How to Tell if Your Downtime is Cloudflare or Your Server
Learn the key indicators to quickly diagnose whether your outage is caused by your CDN provider or your origin server.
The Problem: Two Failure Points
When your website goes down, there are typically two main culprits: your CDN provider (like Cloudflare, Fastly, or AWS CloudFront) or your origin server. Knowing which one is failing is crucial for a fast resolution.
Quick Diagnostic Checklist
1. Check CDN Headers
Most CDN providers add specific headers to responses. For Cloudflare, look for:
CF-Ray- Present if Cloudflare is serving the requestServer: cloudflare- Confirms Cloudflare is in the pathCF-Cache-Status- Shows if content was cached
2. Test Direct Origin Access
If possible, try accessing your origin server directly by IP address or a non-CDN domain. If it responds, your CDN is likely the issue.
3. Check the CDN Status Page
Major CDN providers maintain public status pages:
- Cloudflare: cloudflarestatus.com
- Fastly: status.fastly.com
- AWS CloudFront: status.aws.amazon.com
Using StayUp.dev for Instant Diagnosis
StayUp.dev automates this entire process. It checks your domain and instantly tells you whether the issue is:
- CDN-related (edge servers not responding)
- Origin server issue (your infrastructure is down)
- Mixed (partial outage affecting specific regions)
Try it now for free
Check any domain instantly and get detailed diagnostics including CDN detection, SSL status, and performance metrics.
Prevention: Automated Monitoring
The best way to handle outages is to know about them before your customers do. Automated monitoring with instant alerts means you can:
- Get notified within seconds of an outage
- Know immediately whether it's CDN or origin
- Have historical data to identify patterns
- Track uptime SLAs accurately
Conclusion
Diagnosing CDN vs server issues doesn't have to be guesswork. With the right tools and knowledge, you can quickly identify the root cause and get back online faster.